Find out about the electoral registers, and download application forms. You are now able to register online.
How to register
Changes in Legislation – Individual Elector Registration
There has been a change in how people need to register you now have to provide us with your national insurance number and date of birth. This is so we can compare other records to confirm who people are, this will be carried out via a secure system that has been tested thoroughly. All eligible people will need to register individually replacing the old system of household registration.
Most people who are currently registered to vote will be re-registered automatically under the new system. For all sorts of reasons, some people will not match against these records and so will not be able to be transferred to the new register. We will contact those who are affected in writing.
Registering to Vote
If you move house, or if you are not registered for another reason, you can apply to be added through monthly alterations. When we make monthly alterations to the registers we also delete names and make any other changes needed.
In order to register please complete an online registration application online voter registration (you will need your national insurance number and passport).
Moving – de registering
When you apply to register at a new address, you will need to give your old address in order for the new electoral office to inform your old council (for your old address) to delete your name.
You can also let us know directly if you have moved away from Sutton and need to be taken off the register. This must be in writing giving us your name(s), your new address and the date you moved. Please email electoralservices@sutton.gov.uk with the information.
Change of details
You can update your existing registered details at an address. If you have a change of name or we hold incorrect information that you want us to update we must also have this in writing. Please email electoralservices@sutton.gov.uk with the information.
Deadline to register
You can register up to 11 working days before an election. This means that there are different deadlines before elections.
Who can register
You need to register at the address where you live. You can register if you are 17 years old or over, but in order to vote you must be 18 or over and a British, other Commonwealth, Irish or other European Union citizen.
If you are a European Union citizen who is not British or Irish you are not entitled to vote at United Kingdom parliamentary elections. You can vote at local elections and can choose to vote at a European parliamentary election either for your Sutton address or for your own member state’s area.
If you spend roughly the same time at two addresses – for example, you may be a student or working away from your normal home – you can register at both addresses. But you can only vote once at the same election.
Living away from your registered address
You can register online if you are in one of these categories:
· You are homeless, a remand prisoner, or a patient in a mental hospital.
· You live or work overseas (you will also need your passport number).
· You are in the armed forces (or your husband, wife or civil partner is in the armed forces).
· You are a Crown Servant or British Council employee working overseas (or your husband, wife or civil partner is one).
Register online online voter registration you will need your national insurance number and date of birth.
· Anonymous registration – People can register anonymously if they can show that their safety would be at risk if their name or address was listed on the electoral register. Download a 
Anonymous Registration Form [259kb] – includes details on how to vote.
The two versions of the register
We have to keep an edited version of the register of electors as well as the full version of the register. The form you fill in to join the register asks if you do not want to appear on the edited register.
The full register lists the name and address of everyone who is registered to vote. Anyone can look at it at our office, but there are legal restrictions on how it can be used. Only certain people and organisations can have copies of the full register, and they can only use it for specified purposes. The law says who can have a copy and what they can use it for. It is a criminal offence for them to pass it on to anyone else or to use it for any other purpose.
The main use of the full register is to show who can vote at elections and referendums. It can also be used for law enforcement. Sutton Council can use the full register for its statutory functions relating to security, law enforcement and crime prevention. There is more information on this at the Fair data processing notice page.
Credit reference agencies can use the full register but only to check your name and address if you are applying for credit, and for other purposes specified in law. You can ask us if you want more details. There is more information in the frequently asked questions page at the About My Vote website. Link is www.aboutmyvote.co.uk.
The edited register leaves out the names and addresses of people who have told us they do not want to be on the edited register. It can be bought by, or passed on to, any person, company or organisation and it can be used for any purpose. This includes commercial activities such as marketing.
Under Section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998 you can now request that your name and address is excluded from the edited register on a permanent basis. You cannot do this on behalf of another person. Each individual must inform the Electoral Registration Officer separately that they want to do this. You can write to us, email electoralservices@sutton.gov.uk or download a Section 11 Notice [47kb]
Online register searches
It is possible to search electoral registers using online commercial organisations. However, these organisations are only entitled to be supplied with information on the edited register.
You may find that your name appears on an online search despite you telling us that you do not want your name on the edited register. This can happen if your details were passed on to the commercial organisation before you told us that you did not want to be on the edited register. It may be that you have been living at your address since before 2002; when there was only one version of the register.
You should contact the commercial organisation if you want your name removed from their online search because your name is not on the up-to-date edited register.
See also
· How to vote
· Results of elections
Contact us
Electoral Services Office
Civic Offices
St Nicholas Way
Sutton
SM1 1EA
Phone: 020 8770 4179
Fax: 020 8770 5600
Email: electoralservices@sutton.gov.uk
The Civic Offices reception office hours are Monday to Friday – 9am to 5pm. (During election periods electoral staff are available out of hours please contact us direct to make an appointment during elections.)
